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Book Review – The Sari Shop Widow – Shobhan Bantwal

When the publisher sent me the blurb of the book along with its cover picture, I instantly decided that I have to read this book and asked for a review copy which dropped in a couple of days back. The Sari Shop Widow is a simple yet captivating book. Once you get the hold of the story, the book keeps you hooked to it. I wanted to finish it in single session, but because of festival season around, I couldn’t do so and had to complete this in three sessions.

The book opens with a bad news. Silk & Sapphires, owned by the protagonist of the book, Anjali Kapadia and her parents Mohan and Usha Kapadia was going haywire because of financial problems. Anjali, at 37 is a widow and her life revolves around her boutique. She is an ace designer and sells all her designs at her store in New Jersey. Mohan without consulting Anjali and her mother calls up his elder brother, Jeevan Kapadia in India and ask him to help him out. Jeevan flies down to New Jersey with another man and tries to sort out the whole issue for Silk & Sapphire with the help of Rishi Shah, Jeevan’s business associate. Anjali feels attracted towards Rishi and the feeling stands mutual and the story progresses taking smooth and unexpected twists and turns.

Shobhan Bantwal’s writing is simple. The book cover says, over 100,000 copies have been sold worldwide that means she has got something in her and which is very evident in this book. The language is simple and there is an instant connect with the characters and the story. You feel bad for Anjali for the kind of situation she is in and get all curious to know what is going to happen in the end. My only problem with the book was, mentioning Jeevan kaka again and again. It could have been avoided. Characters are well defined and each one of them have been used properly and have been given their story in the plot. If you love reading something light, then The Sari Shop Widow, is definitely for you. Though, it got a bit heavy for me towards the end but I liked it. Thumbs up for Shobhan Bantwal’s, The Sari Shop Widow from my side.